Here’s what the Buckeyes would need to do to “hang 100 on ‘em.”
If you are anything like me, you have a strong dislike for all things related to the football team from the University of M*ch*g*n. Despite the fact that Ohio State dominated the rivalry for a decade, after cheating to win the last three years, their players and fans have been obnoxiously cocky since they backed out of playing in The Game in 2020.
So, when the No. 2 Ohio State Buckeyes (10-1) welcome the unranked Mitten State Weasels (6-5) to Ohio Stadium on Saturday, Nov. 30 for the regular season finale, I am hoping not only for a victory but for a decimation. Ohio State head coach Ryan Day once told his teams that he wanted to “hang 100 on ‘em,” and literally nothing in the world would make me more giddy (save winning the lottery) than the Buckeyes getting to the century mark on Saturday.
However, we all know how incredibly unlikely that is, but if the Buckeyes want to pull off a butt-kicking of Biblical proportions, then there are three things that I think they must do. Obviously, Will Howard would need to get the ball to his playmakers Jeremiah Smith, Emeka Egbuka, Carnell Tate, and running backs TreVeyon Henderson and Quinshon Judkins would need to have big games, but there’s a lot more than those obvious things that would need to happen in order to make an eye-popping blowout happen.
1. Pick up the pace
Adam Cairns/Columbus Dispatch / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images
Look, I am still holding out hope that Day and his team will find a way to hang 100 on ‘em, but even if putting triple digits up on the scoreboard isn’t a reality, winning by half a hundred would still be nice. So, the best way to do that is to get as many offensive plays in as possible. While the defense getting off the field will obviously help that, if Ohio State is going to have the best possible offensive output, they are going to need to have as many plays as possible.
Through the first 11 games of the season, the Buckeyes have looked uninterested in going quickly. While they have shown in the four-minute drill to be able to play a pace, it has not been their standard operating procedure for a number of different reasons. First and likely foremost, Ohio State’s staff all year has talked about the length of the season and how the expanded playoff will impact rotation, practice, and style of play, and this is one of the most obvious examples of that in practice. On a very basic level, the fewer plays you have, the less likely you are to get injured, or to put tread on the tires that add up throughout the course of the season.
Therefore, Ohio State is 113th nationally in how many seconds it takes them to run an offensive play (28.5) and 117th in terms of plays per game (63.7). In the 2021 season, the Buckeyes ran 71.7 plays per game, good enough for 50th nationally, and in the 2019 season, they were seventh in FBS with 78.6 plays.
While I think that the strategy to limit the physical toll on your dynamic offensive players made sense through the regular season, it is the postseason now (The Game always counts as a postseason game to me), and it’s time to take the restrictor plate off of these Ferrari (if I am getting my automotive terms mixed up, I apologize, I am clearly am not a gearhead).
If the Day, Chip Kelly, and all of the Buckeyes want to embarrass the Corn and Blue as much as the fans want them to (and I assume the team wants that even more), then they need to make sure that they run as many plays as possible. Don’t huddle after every play, snap the ball with 20 seconds on the play clock, push the ball down the field more. If you’re going to put up a fifty-burger on the Skunk Bears, you can’t be shy about flexing your offensive muscles.
2. Offensive line can’t get run over by Mason Graham and Kenneth Grant
Photo by Aaron J. Thornton/Getty Images
While the statistical output of the Weasels has taken a substantial decline in nearly every category this season, the one part of their performance that has remained at a consistently high level has been the play of their defensive line. TTUN is 20th nationally with 31 sacks on the season and defensive end Josaiah Stewart is 15th nationally with 8.5 sacks.
But given the state of the Buckeyes’ offensive line, the two guys that I am most concerned about are the big-body tackles in the middle, Mason Graham and Kenneth Grant.
Graham is the highest-graded defender on the Mitten Men’s defense behind only Stewart and Grant is fourth. They are two of the best run-stuffers in the country and that has led the Fighting Ferrets to be fourth nationally in run defense, allowing only 94 yards on the ground per game (for comparison, OSU is third nationally at 90 ypg).
Ohio State’s interior offensive line comes into this matchup with one game under its belt together, as Carson Hinzman moved back to starting center after the Seth McLaughlin injury and Austin Siereveld took over at left guard. When you throw in Tegra Tshabola at right guard, who seemed to plateau mid-season, there are a lot of questions about whether or not the reconstructed OSU offensive line can stand up to top-line pressure.
Fortunately, I think that Ohio State is so much better than their rival that Kelly can scheme it up enough to mitigate any issues with quick passes, misdirection, and quarterback runs, but seeing how the interior o-line performs against Graham and Grant will not only be critical in terms of running up the score on the Nervous Chickens, but also telling for how the line might perform in the Big Ten Title Game and the College Football Playoff.
3. Don’t let Colston Loveland have easy catches (if he plays)
Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images
The Pompous Princes are a legitimately terrible passing team. They rank 128th nationally in passing yards per game with 140.1. That is better than only Louisiana-Monroe, New Mexico State, and all three service academies. That being said, having rotated through quarterbacks desperately trying to find anyone who could be semi-competent at running the offense, they seem to have stumbled upon a serviceable option in Davis Warren.
In the seven games that he has started, the QB is completing 64.1% of his passes for 1,064 yards, 6 touchdowns, and 7 interceptions. His yards per attempt are only at 5.9, so it’s not like he is lighting the world on fire, but he is doing enough to keep the seat warm for Bryce Underwood to take over next season.
The only pass-catcher that truly worries you at all on the Winged Helmet Wingnuts’ offense is tight end Colston Loveland. He has 582 yards and 10 touchdowns on the season and is averaging 10.4 yards per reception. But here’s the thing, despite setting a program record with his 56th catch of the season last weekend against Northwestern, he left the game with an undisclosed injury and missed the entire second half.
At his Monday press conference, TTUN head coach Sherrone More said, “I think Colston is trending in a good direction. We’ll get a better feel in the next couple days.”
Moore essentially repeated this statement on his Wednesday radio show. So, while not guaranteed, I think it seems likely that he will at least be active if not a full participant in The Game on Saturday.
If that is the case, then the Buckeye defense can’t allow him to be a Get Out of Jail Free Card for Warren. Whether as the first option or as a check-down, if TTUN’s QB gets the ball to Loveland, he can’t be allowed to routinely move the chains. Jordan Hancock, Sonny Styles, Arvell Reese, or whoever is lined up on the tight end needs to be able to deny the TE the ball and if not, tackle him immediately upon the catch.
If the OSU rush defense can keep the Corn and Blue behind the chains, they simply cannot allow Warren and Loveland to regularly convert on third down if they want to blow out the Muskrats.